A comprehensive bipartisan report released by the Senate has declared that individuals associated with Al Qaeda groups were involved in the attack on Benghazi on September 11, 2012. This is contrary to recent claims that Al Qaeda was not a factor in the attack.
The Obama Administration went on record initially claiming that the attack had sprung out of a protest to a film denigrating Islam. While the report does not implicate the Al Qaeda core that is conducting its operations out of Pakistan, it does blame some of the most influential Al Qaeda branches, including Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
The report says the following:
“Individuals affiliated with terrorist groups, including AQIM, Ansar al-Sharia, AQAP, and the Mohammad Jamal Network, participated in the September 11, 2012, attacks."
The militant Ansar al-Sharia was, separately, labeled by the State Department as a terror group last week, in part, over its alleged involvement in the Benghazi strike.
The most striking aspect of the report is its claim that the attack on Benghazi was preventable, that the administration failed to heed "ample warnings" of a pending attack and that U.S. personnel in eastern Libya were at risk. Included in the report was an August 16, 2012, cable from Ambassador Chris Stevens raising concerns about security.
Opinion:
Why did it take a year to name Ansar al-Sharia as a terror group? Why was adequate security not provided to our diplomats? Why were the warnings unheeded? Why were we in Benghazi in the first place?
Our President and his most senior advisors were notified of the attack almost in real time. Why was the order for reinforcements cancelled? Why are the Benghazi survivors being kept from coming forward and telling the truth? Why was the "film" rhetoric promoted? Why did Obama persist in his "Al Qaeda is on the run. . ." rhetoric during his campaign for re-election?
Doesn't anyone want to know?
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